Vibro-axes, a particular favorite among the Gammorreans, were essential to Jabba's amusement, since their blades proved most effective if herding unsuspecting visitors over the rancor pit's trapdoor. In the hands of his ill-tempered skiff guards, these rather nasty weapons also ensured speedy yet entertaining feedings of the Sarlacc at the Great Pit of Carkoon.

Vibro-axes vary widely in quality and power output, although all of them have the same basic function: A power cell supplies energy to an ultrasonic vibration generator, which propels the cutting edge through thousands of microscopic vibrations per second. The result is a hand weapon that is significantly more dangerous than its unpowered counterparts.

Despite the availability of better weapons, Jabba's nine Gamorrean guards stubbornly insisted on carrying crude vibro-axes, built by Snogrutt, a master weapon maker from their home clan of Groogrun. Led by a brutish fellow by the name of Ortugg, the Gamorreans patrolled the palace's dungeons, searching for spies who were plotting against Jabba's best interests and keeping a close eye on any "suspicious" visitors. The Gammorreans' favorite duty was guarding prisoners, since Jabba made it quite clear thsat they could use their axes on any internee foolish enough to try to escape.

The vibro-ax's wooden shaft holds a hollow ax head that contains the ultrasonic generator and the power cell. A tremendous amount of vibration is transferred down the wooden handle, and Gamorreans are among the few creatures with enough strength to handle these difficult devices. The Gamorreans often chose to use their weapons in unpowered mode to demonstrate their great strength...although most of Jabba's guests believed the simple creatures tended to forget to power up their weapons, caught up in the excitement of battle.

Jabba's other guards, including a number of Weequay and Nikto warriors, were considerably more practical, favoring modern weapons such as the SoroSuub BD-1 Cutter vibro-ax. This weapon has a hollow durasteel shaft with internal dampeners that absorb vibrations from the ax blade. The high-poered ax head can slice through armor plating as if it were rotting cloth, while the quick-release switch allows the user to replace a damaged ax blade in seconds. Six power cells permit up to eight hours of continuous use, while the intensity switch gives the wielder the ability to determine precisely how much damage the blade will cause. (Jabba's guards, not knownb for finesse, normally left the dial set at maximum power.) These weapons are sturdy enough to take rough handling, with superior weight distribution to make them easy to handle in combat. Still, they proved no match for Luke Skywalker's lightsaber blade, which sliced right through them.